Chiang Shih-ch'üan, a Ch'ing dynasty poet-playwright

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/318528 CHIANG SHIH-CH'UAN

A CH'ING DYNASTY POET-PLAYWRIGHT

by Coy Leon Harmon

A. Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the

COMMITTEE ON ORIENTAL STUDIES

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

1 9 6 9 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable with­ out special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quo­ tation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or . the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholar­ ship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.

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APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR

This thesis has been approved on the date shown below:

/ / / e g A , /ft WILLIAM^. SCHULTZ 0 "Date Professor of Chinese PREFACE

Throughout, this thesis all Chinese book titles and . names have been rendered in the Wade-Giles system of roman- ization. Some place names, however, which traditionally ap­ pear in other forms of romanizatlon, have not been changed. in order to avoid confusion. For all Japanese titles and names a modification of the Hepburn system of romanizatlon has been employed. The idea for this thesis was first suggested by Dr. William R. Schultz as a topic for a brief paper completed for the Honors Program, and through his encouragement it has been expanded into its present form. A major contribution to the completion of this thesis has been made by Mr. John

Liu, Oriental Studies Librarian, who secured for my use the complete works of Chiang Shih-ch’tian in addition to other invaluable primary and secondary sources. My deepest appre­ ciation is extended to Mrs. Eugenia Tu for her suggestions and assistance in rendering the translated material into

English and for her excellent calligraphy which appears in the bibliography, I would also like to give special acknowl­ edgment to my wife Deanna who both typed the manuscript and corrected numerous errors overlooked by the author,

■ : .. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT o « »e * @ #.« 0 0.0 0 « « # o » * o * @ v* 1. INTRODUCTION * ...... ' . . > ...... 1 2. CHIANG SHIH-CH'UAN,. A SHORT BIOGRAPHY . . . . . >'

3- THE POET CHIANG SHIH-CH'UAN . . . , ...... 21

4. CHIANG SHIH-CH'UAN AS A DRAMATIST...... 1 42 The Fuel Market» One Act From the Play, The Holly Tree ...... 56 Seeing Off Guests, One Act From the Play, Four Strings in Autumn . . » ...... 67

.3 ° CONCLUSION . 0 0 o o 0 . . . e . o 0 e e 0 0 0 e e 77 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CHINESE PERIODS FROM THE T'ANG DYNASTY ...... » . . . 79 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 80

iv ABSTRACT

Educated in the classics by his mother, Chiang Shih- ch'iian had little desire to enter into government service and preferred writing poetry and plays Instead, He was suc­ cessful in the traditional examinations, howeverf and was appointed to a minor post in the Han-1in Academy after he received the chin-shih degree. After serving in the Academy for just a few years» Chiang retired from office to care for his family and to devote his time to writing. Unable to support himself and his family through his writings, Chiang moved to Chekiang province and embarked upon a career as an educator while continuing to pursue his first love, Chiang enjoyed a long friendship with the poet

Yuan Mei, and along with Yuan and the poet Chao I, he was recognized as one of the major writers of the period. ; Al­ though his poetry was highly praised by his contemporaries, Chiang himself preferred drama and soon gained recognition as the leading,playwright of.the Ch'ien-lung period. While his official career was less than brilliant,

Chiang contributed significantly to the literature of the Ch’ing dynasty, and although he wrote several hundred poems

in various modes, he is best known for his dramas and is little studied outside the realm of the Chinese, theater. CHAPTER 1

• INTRODUCTION

Since the Chinese.have traditionally regarded the T'ang and Sung dynasties as the "golden age" of Chinese

poetry, it is only natural that the majority of Western

scholars have concentrated their research efforts on that period. Like the Chinese, moreover, the Western scholars

have alsd categorically labeled the poetry of subsequent dynasties as inferior. While, it may be generally true that the quality of traditional poetry declined after the T'ang and Sung periods, it would be grossly unjust to overlook the many creative impulses that took root in the Ming dy­ nasty . Such is the case of the Kung-an School, a creatively

individualistic trend that developed in the sixteenth cen­ tury and which persisted well into the Ch'ing dynasty.

Critical of the excessively imitative manner of the tradi­

tionalists, the members of the Kung-an School sought to free

themselves from the narrow classical outlook characteristic

of their contemporaries and to establish a new tradition in

which the individual spirit would be free to express itself.

Not only was the school concerned with poetry, but with pop­ ular fiction and drama as well, and although the school was never influential enough to see its literary standards become : .• ■ ' : ' mhiveirsally accepted, its members ranked .among the major waiters of the late Ming and the early and middle Ch'ing

periodso Through their works the spirit of the Kung-an movement was kept alive. The most prominent eighteenth century representative "of the school was Yuan Mei (1716-1798)» who very early in his Career established himself as the leading poet of the

Ibng reign period of the Emperor Ch'ien-lung (1736-1796)° Closely associated with Yuan Mei were the poets Chao I

(1727-1814) and:. chiang • Shih-ch'uan (1725-1784). While Yuan was the most successful poet of the three, Chiang became

the leading playwright of the Ch'len-lung period as well as

one of its three major poets. Even though classical imita­

tion was still the accepted mode of literary expression in

the eighteenth century, the three above-mentioned individuals were all anti-traditionalist in their commitment to the free expression of the individual psyche.

This paper will not attempt a critical evaluation of the literature of the Ch'ien-lung period, nor will it stand

as a comprehensive study of the major writers of the time.

It will, instead, offer a brief view of the poet-playwright

Chiang Shih-ch'iian and begin a much needed exploration into

a relatively neglected area of Ch'ing dynasty literature.

-As the foremost dramatist of the Ch'ien-lung reign period,

and as one of the leading poets of that literature-conscious 3 era, Chiang1s life and contribution to Chinese letters is a worthy subject of study« The primary purpose.of this pre­ liminary study, then, is to indicate in broad terms the major tenets of his aesthetic commitments and some of the primary qualities of his poetry and drama. I will also indicate in general terms how closely Chiang Shih-ch'uan and Yuan. Mei stood in relation to the Kung-an movement and how faithfully Chiang followed the principles of that school= CHAPTER 2

CHIANG SHIH-CH'UAN, A SHORT BIOGRAPHY

The wars accompanying the fall of the Ming dynasty devastated large areas of China and inflicted great suffer-, ing upon the Chinese peasantry o Many people were forced to flee their homes because of marauding rebel armies and ban­ dits. who plagued the countryside„ Among the many refugees was Chiang Shih-ch'uan's grandfather, who then bore the name Ch'ien Ch'eng-yung. When -just a . small boy, ChVien left his home in Chekiang and fled alone to Kiangsi prov­ ince « In Kiangsi the young refugee was found by a traveler who, upon returning to his native district of Yuan-shan, took the young boy with him. Arriving in Yuan-shan, Ch'ien

Ch'eng-yung was taken to the home of a family named Chiang. This family had no sons and agreed to adopt the refugee from Chekiang. On reaching adulthood, Ch'ien married, reg­ istered in Yuan-shan as Chiang Ch'eng-yung, and maintained his family residence in Yuan-shan and neighboring districts thereafter.1 Chiang Shih-ch’uan, the subject of this the­ sis, represents the third generation of this newly estab­ lished family.

1. Chu Hsiang, "Chiang Shih-ch'uan j," Chung-kuo wen- hsueh yen-chiu (Hong Kong, 1963), p. ^67.

4 Born in Nanchang, in the Yilan-shan district of north­ ern Kiangsi, Chiang Shih-ch'uan was to witness one of the more prosperous and peaceful periods in the history of China The Chiahg family, however, was very poor and suffered many hardships amidst the nation's wealth. Chiang Shih-ch'uan's father, Chiang Chien (1678-17^9)» showed a reluctance to study in his youth, and his negative attitude eventually contributed to the poverty of his family. Unable to pass 2 the provincial examinations for the second degree, Chiang

Chien could not hope for a position of security in .the rul­ ing Ch'ing government. Accepting an appointment as a minor ■ ; ■ ' ■ - ' ■ official, he received little pay and traveled for extended periods without his family. His poor salary and long ab­ sences from home . forced his family into humble circumstances and there was very little a man of his position could do to alleviate the situation. .

When Chiang Shih-ch'uan was three years old, his father left On an official assignment and placed his wife and son in the care of his wife's family. The stay in the grandparents' home, which was in Nanchang, lasted for six . years, and the bitterness of that period was never forgot­ ten by Chiang. The grandparents had suffered a financial setback themselves and could hardly afford to shelter their daughter and grandson. • Chiang's mother, Chung Ling-chla,

2, Ibid. 6 aided in meeting living expenses for the entire household

through her artistic embroideries and skillful weaving of silks. She made all of her son’s clothing and sold her

needlework in the local markets. Chiang later wrote in his

autobiography that he was but a young slave during those

six years and his mother but a common working w o m a n . 3 .

On many occasions, when depressed over his own mis­ fortune , Chiang's grandfather took to excessive drinking* When intoxicated he found fault with everyone about him,

especially his daughter, and abused both her and her son.. With the passing of each day, life in the grandfather’s household became increasingly harsh. Due to an inadequacy ' u of food, clothing, and bedding, illness struck frequently. Throughout their hardships, however, Chung Ling-chia's pri­ mary concern was the education of her son. Educated in the

classics herself, she took advantage of every opportunity

to instruct her son. When Chiang lay ill in bed, his moth­

er wrote individual characters and complete passages on the

wall and led him in chanting and reciting the poetry of the

masters. By the time he was old enough to hold a writing

brush, he had memorized many characters.^

3« Chiang Shih-ch’uan, "Ming-chi yeh-k’o t ’u chi,” Ku-chln wen^hsuan (Taipei, 195?)» I , P« ^3?« 4. Ibid.

.5’ Chu, p. 468. Chiang's education began very early. At the age of four he.was first instructed in the Four Books. 6 At age seven his studies were intensified, and by age nine he was studying the poetry of the T'ang and Sung masters and re­ citing from the classics. Chung Ling-chia was very strict in her instruction and did not allow her son to neglect his education. When Chiang loafed in his studies during the day, he was made to stay up late into, the night until he had finished his lessons.? His mother's attitude surely was tempered by her husband's neglect of his studies as a youth .and his subsequent failure in the examination system. She was determined that this was not to happen to her son. The years in the grandfather's house passed slowly, but mother and son found comfort in each other and managed to survive-the extremities of their existence. Finally, when Chiang was just ten years old, his father returned home on leave from office. In 1735» after one year's leave of absence, Chiang Chien was reassigned to Shansi province.

Chiang Shih-ch'uan and his mother accompanied Chiang Chien on his new mission, but they spent much of their time as guests of another family and did not live in their own i home. The mission to Shansi and neighboring areas lasted

6. The "Great Learning" and the "Doctrine of the Mean”'from the Book of Rites; the Analects and Mencius.

■ 7. Chu, p. 468.' See also; Chiang, p. 437» • 8 for nine years, and although the family did much traveling, Chiang's education was not interrupted. At the age of fif­ teen he started composing his own verse and studied more carefully the poems of the great T'ang dynasty poets. At the early age of seventeen Chiang concluded that the poems of Li Po (705-762) were both repetitious and lacking in 8 content. He later expressed his opinions of the T'ang and Sung poets, particularly Li Po, in numerous letters and essays. In 1745 the Chiang family returned to their home near Lake P'o-yang in Kiangsi. Chiang Shih-ch'uan was then twenty-one years old. Shortly after his return to Nan- chang, he married and also began serious preparation for the district examinations. In 17^6 he passed the examina­ tions and became a hsiu-ts'al, or holder of the first de­ gree. One year later, at the age of twenty-three, he passed the provincial examinations for his second degree o and became a chu-.jeh..

Financed in part by his father, Chiang Shih-ch'uan proceeded to Peking in 1748 to participate in the metropol­ itan examinations. Success in this endeavor meant attain­ ment of the coveted chln-shlh degree and hope for a more

8. Wang Wen-ju, Ch1ing shih o'ing-chu tu-pen . (Shanghai, 1916), Hsuan 1, p. 10.

9* Yi Chun-tso, editor, Chung-kuo wen-hsueh shih ■ (Taipei, 1966), p. 44-0. : ■ •; v ■ ' ■ V . '■ ■ 9 promising career as a government official. Whether or not Chiang really wanted to serve in the Ch'ing bureaucratic structure will be discussed briefly in subsequent pages,

For now, however, it is important only to point out that Chiang failed in his first attempt, in the capital examina­ tions and returned to Kiangsi immediately thereafter. Ac­ cording to the modern scholar Chu Hsiang, Chiang did not actually fall but was passed over in the final ratings be­ cause the quota for Kiangsi province had already been filled. His name was not retained on the list of success­ ful participants, and he therefore had to take the examina­ tions again at a later date

Oh his return to Nanchang in 17^91 Chiang overcame his disappointment and once again prepared for the examina­ tions to be held in Peking approximately three years later. Unfortunately, whatever plans he may have had were canceled 11 with the death of his father in that same year. Caring for his mother and family occupied Chiang's time for over a year, but a lack of funds necessitated that he find immedi­ ate employment. In 1750 Ku Hsi-ch'ang (chin-shih of 1736)» magistrate of Nanchang, initiated the compilation of a local history and invited Chiang to serve on the compila­ tion -board in the capacity of editor, a task which occupied

10. Chu, p . 469• 11. Ibid. • ; ■■v: 10 his time for one year. The young scholar enjoyed a long ac­ quaintance with Ku Hsi-ch'ang, and in later years he used his knowledge of the KU household as source material for two-

of his better known plays = The Nan-ch'ang hsien-ohih (Nan-.

chang District Gazetteer) was completed and printed in 1751» and it is believed that Chiang soon after set out for Peking 12 and his second attempt at.the metropolitan examinations. Other than the knowledge that Chiang started compos­ ing verse at the age of fifteen, little has been recorded

concerning his literary output and aesthetic commitments

during his youthful years in Kiahgsi province. According to Chu Hsiang, however, Chiang Shih-ch'uan began his career as a dramatist in Nanchang in 1751° At the age of twenty-seven, while still in the service of Ku Hsi-ch’ang, he completed I-p'ien shih (One Piece of Stone), his first drama. This four-act play commemorating the wisdom of Lou Pei, concubine

of the rebel Ming prince Chu Ch’en-hao (d. 1520), was the

first of five plays written by Chiang in 1751 and the first of two dramas about Lou Fei.^^ Before his second journey to the capital, then, Chiang had already established himself as a dramatist.

12, Arthur W. Hummel, editor, Eminent Chinese of the Ch1 ing Period (Taipei, 1967), p. l^Tl.

13.’ Aoki Masaru, Chung-kuo chin-shih hsi-ch’u shih. trahs. from the Japanese by Wang Ku-lu (Shanghai, 1937)» p. 410, It is not known when Chiang arrived in Peking for the examinations, "but he evidently delayed his journey for a brief stay in the city of Yangchow. That short interlude in his travels was to have a profound effect on his future career. In 175^» while passing through Yangchow, the fa­ mous Ch'ing poet Yuan Mel found a poem written on a monas­ tery wall and was so impressed that he was determined to learn the identity of the poet. The name signed to the po­

em was T'lao-sheng, a poet who was relatively unknown in

Yangchow at that time.- After extensive questioning of. the local gentry and officials, Yuan discovered that T ’iao- sheng was the tzu,^" or literary name, of Chiang Shih™

ch'uan, a young scholar reportedly in Peking waiting to take the capital examinations. Yuan wrote to Chiang ex­ pressing his admiration for the poem in the monastery. Chiang, quite surprised by the letter from one of China’s greatest living poets, replied expressing his admiration for Yuan Mei. The two corresponded regularly thereafter,

exchanging both personal letters and poems. Although a

lasting friendship developed, the two poets did not meet until some ten years later

14. Chiang's other tzu is- Hsin-yu. His hao, or social name, is Ch'ing-jung.

15° Arthur Waley, Yuan Mei (London,’1956)» P • 72. : . . 12 Chiang took advantage of those years of correspond­ ence to test the reception Of his plays on Yuan, who read them out of respect for his friend, but who still remained most impressed by his poems. Chiang persisted, however, and soon gained recognition as the .leading dramatist of the Ch1ien-lung period.

While he was pleased with the rising popularity of his plays and his relationship with Yuan Mel, Chiang suf­ fered another disappointment in 1753 when he failed the capital examinations for the second time. Chu Hsiang has suggested that Chiang's failure was due to an exceptionally long essay written for the examinations. When he used up his supply of paper during the testing period, Chiang was denied additional paper to complete his major essay. Con­ sequently, the examiners disqualified the essay and.gave Chiang a failing grade in the final ratings. While the above may be true, it has not been substantiated and may well be popular legend instead of fact.

Chiang reportedly attempted the metropolitan exami­ nations a third time in 1755 and'failed again. In his ex­ tensive article on Chiang, Chu stated that the playwright's failure on the third occasion, and possibly on the second, was due to the controversial nature of some of his plays,

16. Chu, p. 469-

17• Ibid., p. 475• . - 13 Chiang was apparently overly critical of certain institu­ tions and individuals, and although his criticisms were disguised in allusions and indirect references, he nonethe­ less Incurred the displeasure of the court-appointed examiners. In 175? Chiang finally passed the capital ex­ aminations and "became a chin-shih, or holder of the third degree. He was then assigned to the Han-lin Academy as a second-class compiler and served concurrently as a proof­ reader in the Imperial Printing Establishment and Book- bindery. In 1763, after approximately eight years in

"I O 'Peking, Chiang requested leave to care for his mother.

Before he left the capital, however, the young play­ wright completed his sixth drama, K'ung-ku hsiang (Fra­ grance. in an Empty Valley), which revolves about the life of Yao Meng-lan, the concubine of his friend Ku Hsi-ch'ang.

Chiang first conceived the idea of the play in 1751 while in.the service of Ku, who was then the magistrate of Nan- . chang in Kiangsi province. Hsiang-tsu lou (The Fragrant

Chamber), which was written twenty years later, is also about the life of Yao Meng-lan and one of Chiang-* s most famous plays .^9 While he continued composing verse, Chiang

18, Meng Yao, Chung-kuo hsi-ch'u shlh (Taipei, 1965), p. 374. .

19. Chu, p. 475. ' ■ ' . . 14- did not complete another play until 1??1, but his production from that point on was remarkable,

Having retired from office, Chiang and his mother moved south to Nanking in 1?64 and occupied a home near his old friend Yuan Mei. For the first time since their initial correspondence, the two famous poets were able to meet and, discuss their poetry in leisure. Chiang remained in Nanking for over a year, but his attempts to support himself and his family.were not as successful as Yuan Mei's. Yuan, in fact, had long been retired from government service and had become quite wealthy through his literary talents. A large portion of the poet's income came from the writing of tomb inscrip­ tions, for which he was in great demand throughout the south­ ern provinces of China.

On leaving Nanking, Chiang traveled further south to

Chekiang province where he began a career in the field of

education in 1766. In Shaohsing he took charge of the Chi- shan Academy for a short period; moving to Hangchow he di­ rected the Ch'ung-wen Academy for a few years, and,finally, 20 in Yangchow, he administered the An-ting Academy. During the eight-year period spent in the academies, Chiang wrote five additional plays, four of which are included in a col­ lection of his most popular dramas entitled T s 'ang-yuan

20. Aoki, p. 408. • 3-5 chlu-chunff; ch'u (Nine Plays of T-s "ang-yuan) . . ^ Ts 'an^-yuan was the name of Chiang’s home and was also used as one of his pen names. Ssu-hslen ch'lu (Four StrIngs In Autumn). a four-act play dramatizing the lyric poem "P'i-p'a hsing," written by the T'ang poet Po Chu-i (772-84-6), was completed in 1772 and first performed in Yangchow the following sum- mer« 22 The fourth act of the play, which appears • ' in trans­ lation in Chapter 4, is still performed in China. .Hsueh- chung .jen (Man in the Snow), written in 1773$ dramatizes an alleged event in the life of Cha Chi-tso (1601-1676), a scholar-official who spent most of his life teaching in pri-

• . vate academies. Cha's major contribution in the field of scholarship was a long history of the Ming dynasty. The his tory was compiled over a period of twenty years but was nev­ er printed. Cha feared that it would offend the Manchus, by whom he had already been imprisoned once before.^3

As mentioned earlier, Chiang wrote two plays about the life of Yao Meng-lan, concubine of Ku Hsi-ch'ang. The second play, The Fragrant Chamber, was completed in 1774, and although both dramas appear in Nine Plays of Ts'ang-yuan the latter has enjoyed much greater acclaim than the first.

21. Chao Ching-shen, editor, Ming-eh1ing ch*uan- ch'i hsuan (Peking, 1957)» p. 142. 22. Waley, p. 106.

23. . Hummel, pp. 18-19. -: . . . ;. i6 Another play which .was completed in 1774 is Lin-ch1 uan men#

(The Dream of Lin-oh'nan). This long drama, the most famous of Chiang’s -works, revolves about the life of T'ang Hsien- tsu (1550“16i 6) and his highly acclaimed play Mu-tan t *ing (The Peony Pavilion) .T'ang was a native of Lin-eh'uan,' Kiangsu, and a chin-shih of 1583' While serving as a sec­ retary on the Board of Ceremonies in 1591$ he submitted a memorial to the throne openly accusing other Grand Secre­ taries of attempting to usurp the throne. Emperor Wan Li was so enraged that he demoted T'ang to the lowest, rank of officialdom. After serving in disgrace as a police magis­ trate and jail warden, T'ang was eventually promoted to the position of district magistrate in Chekiang province, In

1600, however, two years after his retirement, he was de­ prived of all his titles by the Ming court after the unsat- 25 isfactory examination of the records kept in his district. Although T'ang's official career was not marked by great success, he nevertheless achieved considerable fame in the field of literature. Besides writing a history of the

Sung dynasty, which never appeared in print, the Ming schol­ ar composed many poems, essays, and plays. However, since

T'ang's sons burned all of his unpublished manuscripts after his death, comparatively few of his works have survived.

24. Meng, p. 375«

' 25» Hummel, pp. 708-09• 17 Among the extant material is a collection of dramas, known as The Four Dreams of .Yii-ming; t'ang, after the name of T Vang's

Studio and with each of the four dramas relating to a dream.^ Of all his works, T ’ang's fame rests almost en­ tirely on one drama, The Peony Pavilion, and as noted before, it was on this play and T'ang’s life that Chiang based his best known drama. Written in tribute to a man whom Chiang admired very much, and whose influence permeated his own works, The Dream of Lln-ch’uan was the last play completed by the Ch'ing scholar during his career as an educator.^

In 1775 Chiang's mother died in the city of Yang- chow, and in observance of the traditional three years of mourning, he retired from both public and official life. Due to the friendship between Chiang and Yuan Mei, and also because of the warm friendship that developed between their mothers, Chiang requested Yuan to write the inscription for 28 his mother's tomb.

During the period of mourning, Chiang wrote but one drama. In August of 1777 he completed Ti-erh pel (Second Stone Tablet), the second of the two plays about Lou Pei, concubine of the Ming prince Chu Ch'en-hao. In 1778, with

26. Ibid., p. 709.

2 7 . Meng, p . 375.

28. Waley, p. 110. 18 the three-year periodever, Chiang proceeded to Peking to await an appointment as censor. The position was not open, immediately, however, and he was made a compiler in,the National Historiographic Bureau in 3-781. Shortly after assuming his post in the Bureau, the aging scholar was stricken with paralysis and forced to retire from office,^9

Just prior to his retirement, Chiang completed Tung-ch'ing shu (The Holly Tree), a drama in thirty-eight acts recount­ ing the career of the Sung dynasty patriot Wen T'ien- 30 hsiango Regarded as one of his most important dramas, The Holly Tree is also one of the most controversial. Critics are, yet debating whether the play was written in simple praise of Wen T 6 ien-hsiang * s loyalty to the Sung government or as cloaked criticism of the reigning Manchu government. Whatever his intentions may have been, Chiang affords his audience "both a view of his favorite subject material and an interesting, if somewhat fictionalized, account of the fall of the Sung dynasty to the Mongols.

One act from The Holly Tree is offered in translation in

Chapter 4.

With his right arm and side paralyzed, and with his speech impaired, Chiang departed the capital for permanent

29. Aoki, p., 410. 30. Suzuki Torao, Shina bungaku kenkyu (Tokyo, 1962), p. 519. - 19 retirement at his Nanchang residence near Lake• P' o-y-ang.

In his final years, Chiang had to content himself with a comparatively quiet, uneventful life. He had many visi­ tors, however, including his old friend Yuan Mel. In 1784, while en route to Kwangtung, Yuan stopped in Nanchang and spent several days with C h i a n g . 31 His own personal records confirm the fact that Chiang was partially paralyzed and unable to speak coherently. Active in mind, however, Chiang was able to write with his left hand. Thus the two friends conversed until Yuan Mel resumed his journey to

Kwangtung. Soon after, in the forty-ninth year of Ch'ien- lung (1784), Chiang Shih-ch'uan died at the age of sixty.

In his lifetime Chiang spent but a few years as an active government official and.never served outside the capital. The length of his career is not surprising, of course, since his paralysis in later life terminated his ability to serve. It has also been noted that Chiang first retired from office in 1763 in order to care for his moth­ er. His position in the capital certainly was not one of financial security, and by leaving the capital he was free to search for a more lucrative career as an educator. One additional point should be taken into consideration when discussing Chiang's brief official career. His bitter

31. Waley, p. 154.

32. Yi, p. 440. ' ■ experiences as a youth are expressed in some of his poems, a few of which are offered in translation in the following chapter, and the overall tone of these poems would indicate that the poet had mixed emotions concerning a career as an o f f i c i a l . 33 While this does hot mean that he. was necessar­ ily critical of the ..government, he was at least hesitant about subjecting his own family to the kind of hardships he had suffered himself. If Chiang had remained in his posi­ tion in the capital,. he may have risen in rank to a position of greater importance and pay. We must remember, though, that the element of criticism in some of his earlier plays hindered his progress in the examination system. It is just as likely that his chances for promotion within the bureau­ cracy would have been equally hindered. Furthermore, since Chiang could not but have been aware of the ill feelings toward his plays from within official circles, and since he continued writing such plays, we may safely assume that serv­ ice in the Ch’ing government was not foremost in his thought and ambitions.

33« For these poems and others, see: Wang, Hsuan 1-4. . — CHAPTER 3

THE POET CHIANG SHIH-CH'DAN •

Chiang Shih-ch'uan was regarded "by his contemporaries as the leading dramatist of the day and one of the three ma­ jor poets of the long reign period of the Emperor Ch'ien- Tung.-L His prominence as a dramatist» however, and the fame of hjs friends liian Mei and Chao I as poets of the age. have tended to eclipse his own contributions to the poetic arts and to obscure his versatility as a man of letters. Research to date in the field of Chinese poetry has generally concentrated on the great T'ang and Sung periods. Conversely, the poetry of the later dynasties has been rela­ tively neglected. Several reasons can be given for this attitude, proximity of time certainly not the least impor­ tant. The Chinese have traditionally held in esteem articles of antiquity and the golden ages of China's past. Conse­ quently, the traditional verse of the relatively modern Ming and Ch'ing periods has received comparatively little atten­ tion while the more ancient periods have been extensively researched. The popularity of the novel and novella in the Ming and Ch'ing periods also contributed to the comparative

1. Aoki Masaru, Shosei bungaku hyoron shi (Tokyo, 1950 ). p . 1?8. ~ . . 21 obscurity of the poetry of those periods® Growing interest in such novels as Monkey, Dream of the Bed Chamber and Romance of the Three Kingdoms (which may have originated as early as the Yuan dynasty) resulted in a corresponding lack of interest in other major literary genres® Monkey, a novel descended from the tradition of the storyteller’s tale, was written by Wu Ch’eng-en (c» 1500-1580) as an allegorical treatment of supernatural creatures® The plot is based on the pilgrimage of the Buddhist priest Hsuan-tsang, who jour­ neyed to India in the seventh century in search of sacred

Buddhist texts® While the priest and his own records of the journey provide the story line, the character of the priest is secondary to the development of the novel. The primary character is a supernatural monkey responsible for the suc­ cessful completion of the pilgrimage® The satire underly­ ing the allegory of the journey and its various participants is directed toward the Confucian social and bureaucratic structure®^

The long romantic novel Dream of the Red Chamber was begun by Ts'ao Chan (d. 1763) and finished by Kao E after

Ts'ao’s death. Partly autobiographical, the novel depicts the decline of a wealthy Chinese family in the service of the Manchu government. The main plot, however, centers on

2® C. T. Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel (New York, .1968), p. 11?® See also: James R® Hightower, Topics in Chinese Literature (Cambridge, 1962), pp. 104-05- a love story Involving the hero of the novel, a teenage hoy who represents the only hope for the declining.family, and two of his girl cousins» The numerous characters and sub­ plots provide an interesting view of the complex nature of a large, wealthy household in traditional C h i n a The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a lengthy novel based on historical events of the third century. With the fall of the Han dynasty in 221 A.D., China was divided into the three states of Wei, Wu and Shu, all struggling against each other for ultimate control of the empire, The novel is an expanded, fictionalized account of the characters and events of the wars as recorded in the histories of the time.

The epic-like work deals with the respective leaders of the three contending states, and although Ts’ao Ts'ao, founder of the Wei kingdom, is the most fully developed character in the novel, the founder of the kingdom of Shu and his two 4 sworn brothers receive more overall attention,

A third reason for the seemingly indifferent attitude toward Ming and Ch'ing poetry may be attributed to the know­ ledge that the imitative mode in Chinese poetry was in vogue throughout much of this time. The T'ang and Sung masters were so revered that many later poets abandoned all thoughts of individual creativeness and sought only to imitate the masterso Consequently, much pf the "belle lettres pf the past five centuries has "been held in lew esteem by native and foreign critics alike. Although the majority of Ming and Ch6 ing poets pat­ terned their works after the old masters, there did exist from late Ming times a group of poets, novelists, and drama­ tists who openly opposed the imitation inherent in the tra­ ditional forms of literatureo The Kung-an School, with Yuan

Hung-tao (1568-I6IQ) as co-founder and major spokesman, was the first organized voice of opposition to the imitative manner that characterized the outlook of the times„5 Yuan

Hung-tao, along with his "brothers Yuan Tsung-tao and Yuan

Chung-tao, contended that the literary monuments of the past should "be recognized and appreciated, but that literature was by nature progressive and must change with the times. The literary doctrines of the Kung-an School, which derives its name from the birthplace of the Yuan brothers, have been summarized by the modern literary historian Liu Ta-chieh as follows; 1) literature is intrinsically evolutionary and progressive, and each period has its characteristic manner?

2) imitation, which is harmful to the essential spirit of literature, must be opposed? 3) the individual lyrical spirit must not be fettered? literary expression must have

5. Ch'en Shou-yl, Chinese Literature, A Historical Introduction (New York, - 25 meaningful content; and 5) popular, vernacular literary forms, such as fiction and drama, possess literary merit no 6 less than poetry of the polite tradition. To Yuan Hung-tao then, one of the most important ele­ ments involved in the writing of good poetry was the free expression of the individual spirit. This principle can be traced directly to the philosopher Wang Yang-mlng (1^72-

I529)t who formulated Idealistic principles opposed to the rationalistic, Neo-Confucianism of the Sung dynasty philoso­ pher Chu Hsi (1130-1200)= While Chu Hsi believed that en­ lightenment as to the ultimate nature of reality could be achieved through the investigation of things, thus discover­ ing the universal principle (JLi) of things, Wang Yang-ming ; believed that It was not independent of the individual mind but contained therein. Wang therefore relied on the innate knowledge of the mind in order to perceive the truths of the universe. His approach was entirely subjective, of course, and as Chan Wing-tsit has pointed out, Wang's theory often 7 confused reality with value. Still, in literature and pol­ itics, as well as in philosophy, the Ming dynasty witnessed the emergence of movements contrary to traditional ideas.

6. Liu Ta-chleh, Chung-kuo wen-hsueh fa-chan shih . (Hong Kong, i960), pp. 30^-097" ~~~

7» Chan Wing-tsit, A Source Book in Chinese Philoso­ phy (Princeton, 1963). pp. ^55-56• ■ 26 With the fall of the Ming and the rise of the Ch'ing dynasty, the Kung-an School disappeared as an organized movement« The dramatist Li Yii (l6ll-l680) continued the tradition:into the next dynasty with his commitment to indi­ vidual values free of ancient restraints. Another literary figure who held similar ideas still later in the Ch'ing dynasty was Yuan Mei. As noted in Chapter 2, Chiang Shih-

ch'iian enjoyed a long friendship with Yuan Mei, who was al­ ready recognized as the leading poet of the Ch'ien-lung period. Although Yuan Mei has been linked directly to the principles defined by the Kung-an School, little has been written concerning Chiang Shih-ch'iian's own aesthetic ideals. Chiang' s fame lies. primarily in tihe field of drama, but as a poet he espoused ideas similar to Yuan Mei's. goth men were

in the tradition of the Kung-an School in that they opposed classical imitation, and Chiang went so far as to wholly condemn those who wrote uninspired poetry in the manner of the T'ang and Sung poets. He firmly believed that literature should derive from Individual feelings and not from external

influences. In this respect Chiang's theory of literature differed from Yuan Mei1s. While Chiang closely adhered to

Yuan Hung-tao1s theory of innate spiritual nature, Yuan Mei 8 believed more in natural temperament or disposition. Thus, •

8. Matsushita Tadashi, "Yen Mei no seireisetsu no tokushoku," Tohogaku, XXXV (January, 1968), 130-31* See al­ so: Kondo Mitsuo, editor, Shinshi sen (Tokyo, 1967), p. 279« 27 Chiang was essentially subjective in stressing internal in­ spiration and motivation while Yuan Mel allowed a larger role for external influences upon the creative conscious­ ness . Like his contemporaries, Chiang also took as his mod­ els the great poets of T'ang and Sung times, but he did so in a different way. Since he believed that slavish imita­ tion was destructive of the creative impulses, he developed his own principle of reading widely in the poetry of the masters, studying their verse thoroughly, and then with the basic concepts of good poetry in mind, writing his own verse 9 expressing contemporary values and standards. Again, this is in keeping with Yuan Hung-tao's theory of constant pro­ gression and his belief that good literature must have a living vitality which is achieved only when the emotions of the present period are expressed through the individual and independent spirit of the writer.

Chiang deplored taking as subject matter the worldly pleasures'of man. Consequently, as noted before, he had little regard for such poets' as Li Po and criticized his poetry as totally lacking in content. In his own verse

Chiang wrote of those subjects which best expressed the virtuous qualities of man rather than man * s pleasure seeking

9« Chung-kuo k'o-hsueh yuan wen-hsueh yen-chiu suo, editorial board, Chung-kuo wen-hsueh shih (Peking, 1962), p. 1069. . . 28 propensitiese While the content of his poetry is broad, he generally took as subjects of his poems historical facts or personages.in order to emphasize his theme of loyalty and virtue *10 .

In his role as a poet Chiang Shih-ch'uan wrote some two hundred tz'u (poetry in lines of unequal length written to existing musical patterns) and over twenty-three hundred shih, most of which are in the New Style and in the mode of seven characters per line, While the unregulated Old Style verse allowed considerable freedom for creativity, the ex­ tended lines of the New Style verse, although regulated, afforded the poet opportunities for detailed descriptions and rhythmic qualities difficult to achieve in the shorter lineso

It has not been, possible to include here more of

Chiang's poems in translation. However, the poems selected, are felt to be representative of the range of subject mat­ ter and indicative of the close adherence to those prin­ ciples of poetry as outlined by Chiang» The primary source for the selection of the poems which follow is Chung-ya t'ang shih-chi (Collected Verse of Chung-ya t'ang), which was printed in Canton in•1816» Chung-ya t 'ang was often used as one of Chiang1s pen names and was also the name of his home. An invaluable aid in the translation process has

10e Wang, Hsuan 1, p. 10. Header of Ch'ln# Poetry), edited "by Wang Wen^ju»

Taking as its suTdject a famous historical event, the following poem shows both Chiang's use of a popular histor­ ical theme and his emphasis on the virtuous qualities in man that he admired so much. One of his shortest poems» it tells us much of the moral concerns of Chiang Shih-ch'uan,

: GRIEVING FOR CHI ESIN AT CH.* ING-FENG PAVILION Out the east gate flee the women of Jung-yang, Without thought, the yellow carriage is tossed lightly into the leaping flames. See, now Han and P 8eng have lost-their lives, But the one death weighs on us like the burden ■.of Nt. T'ai. While on a trip through Ssuchwan province, the poet visited a monument to Chi Esin at Ch'ing-feng Pavilion in Shun-ch"ing, Chi Esin was a captain in Liu Pang's army during the period of war which saw the rise of the Han dy­ nasty « In Kiangsu, about the year 205 B,C«, Liu Pang's forces suffered heavy losses while under attack from an army led by Hsiang Yu, When it became apparent that Liu's camp would be overrun, a daring plan was conceived and suc­ cessfully executed. The women within the walls of the city of Jung-yang were sent running out the east gate, which gave the intended appearance of the abandonment of the city.

Chi Esin, disguised as Liu Pang and riding in his carriage, proceeded out the gate to surrender to Hsiang Yu, the .. . . ; ... . . 30 principal contender for the empire. In the confusion which followed, and aided by the temporary cessation of hostili­ ties, Liu Pang escaped unnoticed through the west gate® En­ raged when he discovered the trick, Hsiang Yu ordered Liu's carriage, which derived its name from the yellow silk in­ terior, thrown into a raging fire. Chi Esin was forced to remain in the carriage and thus died. . Liu Pang eventually defeated Hsiang Yu and proclaimed himself the first emperor of the Han dynasty. Upon ascending the throne, he promptly had his two most able generals, Han Hsin and P ’eng Lu, put to death in a move designed to counter any future threats to the throne = 1 1 While Han and P 'eng were mourned, i their execution was understood as a necessary measure to insure national political stability. The death of Chi Hsin, how­ ever, was regarded as a personal sacrifice and a display of personal loyalty, and therefore weighed on the hearts of the people "like the burden of Mt. T'al," the highest of the Five Sacred Mountains in Shantung province. The shrine in Ssuchwan was erected to honor Chi Hsin as a patriot.

Thus, this poem is an encomium to personal courage, loyalty and selfless virtue.

The "Song of Grief," which follows in translation, reflects neither Chiang's fondness for historical subjects nor his general commitment to the belief that poetry should

11. Ibid,, Hsuan 4, p. 18. • , - ’ ' 31 express moral values® It is instead an expression of per- . sonal loss.and grief, and consistent with a well-established tradition of elegiac verse.

SONG OF GRIEF Autumn winds blow from the forests, - My frosted temples feel the cold air. Winter approaches, like a stranger I am alone, unheeded« Drifting with the water the white sea gulls are oblivious. Spilling into•my courtyard, the bright moon? Boats from strange villages interrupt their journey. Propped up in bed, I recall my beautiful daughter, Now happily paying her respects to my parents. This is one of eight poems Chiang Shih-ch'uan wrote lamenting the death of his young daughter. The pangs of advancing age, of neglect and loneliness, and of the loss of his daughter are counterbalanced and ameliorated by the thought that his daughter has joined his deceased parents.

The imagery of the poem is conventional. Autumn signifies the onset of old age, as does the mention in line three of the approach of winter. The poet's reference to the fact that his hair is grey is a stock reference to ad­ vancing years. The passage of time is a major motif of the poem and is introduced by the figures of the flowing water, which symbolizes the inexorable movement of time. The moonlight which bathes the courtyard reinforces the sense of fleeting time. The image of the anchored boats is am­ biguous, in the sense that it conveys two separate but related concepts. First, time has stopped while the poet ruminates about time both past and present 5 secondly, when considered in the context of the metaphorical structure of the poem as a whole, there is the implication that the poet laments the futility of life and desires to join his parents in death, which implication is reinforced in the depiction of his daughter's happy reunion with her dead grandparents = Although the figurative language of the poem in its separate parts is not new, the structure of the imagery is personal, complex, and moving.

The meaning of a poem, however simple its surface statement, defies easy explication. In the following poem, the poet describes in the first person the plight of his family and his mixed emotions on returning home, If we recall the circumstances of Chiang*s youth in Kiangsi, and the poverty he endured as a child, this poem suggests a connection between past and present« In this case the son would be the poet himself and the subject of the poem would by Chiang8s father Chiang Chien, Regardless of the ap­ proach taken, "Returning Home at Year's End" is evidence of the poet's awareness and sincere concern for his family's welfare.

RETURNING HOME AT YEAR'S END With love for my sons, my heart is boundless, . And returning home, happy is the early morning. Their winter clothing, stitched arid sewn. 33 Fresh is the ink on letters from home. /.'..Now,' faqe to face, how pitiful, their appearance. And calling to my sons, I ask of their hardships. Before them,, I bow my head in shame And dare not lament the cares of the wider world.

The life of an official of the lower ranks was often one of humble means, Ch'ing administrative law prevented an official from serving in his home district; moreover, transfers from post to post were frequent, and fixed salary structures were unrealistic in the face of steady inflation. Thus, the families of men holding minor posts often had great difficulty making ends meet. In the above poem, the first couplet expresses the love of the poet for his family and his joy at the prospect of home leave. This reverie is broken in the next couplet when a letter from home reminds him of the poverty which his wife and children must endure.

A shift of scene separates couplets two and three, with the locale of the poem now set in the family home. Direct ob­ servation confirms the desparate circumstances under which the poet "Observer''s family must, live, A personal, lyrical note is struck in the final couplet, where the poet gives expression to a profound sense of personal shame and regret that he had earlier lamented his situation at post which, by implication, was less severe than that of his wife and children. The diction is simple and direct, the grammatical structure regular, and the expression subdued in keeping with the tone the poet wishes to project. 34 As an official, Chiaiig was undoubtedly aware of In­ trigue and corruption In the bureaucracy. Whether a refer­ ence to a specific Incident or an oblique attack on official peculation in: general $ the following poem is indicative of a moralizing tendency common to much of his verse.

FALLING LEAVES

: 1 ■ ' - . Moss covered, barren limbed stands the frosted map l e $ Evening .approachesi the wind heightens on the small screens.. In the deep, dry moat a deer is hidden? in the morning someone will cross the road and dis­ cover it. Awakening from the wine, no one knocks at my door after all. Dreaming, I enter the old palace and search for the ancient well. Melancholy takes form in the rustic room, and. I see. a vision of my old village. After passing by, a branch can never be gathered? Better to seek the lost soul among the shadows of the wall.

On old paths no one gathers the fallen fire wood. Stricken with sadness, crying birds alone come and go— A forest, a cold moon, a dew-covered mountain temple— For ten Li the pure frost leads to a wooden bridge. Hesitating, I recall old experiences, Memories which cannot be forgotten. From a high tower comes the "Lament of the Cicada"; Filling my ears, the autumn winds carry the sound of a jade flute.

The title of these two poems, "Falling Leaves,” con­ notes both the passage of time and the improper handling of 35 human affairs«, The first two lines in the first poem create

a feeling of tension. A sense of corruption and imminent exposure is evoked by the stark landscape limned in this couplet. An ancient Chinese story tells of a woodcutter who illegally killed a deer and,, because he feared being caught with the carcass, hid it in a dry, brushy moat. His fears multiplied, however, for he knew that the deer would even= tually be uncovered and his guilt established. By implica­ tion , then, a corrupt, or illegal deed has been committed by an official since risen in rank. Like the poacher the anon­ ymous miscreant now fears exposure and retribution. Awaken­

ing from a wine-induced sleep, he imagines someone knocks at

his door, someone who is searching for the perpetrator. He then recalls the simple life of his old native village and

is saddened by the thought that it is too late to take ad­ vantage of opportunities that once presented themselves.

Now he can only search for renewal, for lost values to re­ deem himself.

Chinese classical poetry often eschews the use of

subject pronouns and indicates only indirectly or by impli­ cation the person of the speaker. It is therefore unclear

in the above poem whether the translation should be cast in the first person, or whether a third person narration would

be more appropriate. Consequently, only the general sense

of this poem— namely, that of desolation of feeling, lost ;; .36 purposes and a desire for redemption of self and reaffirma­ tion of spiritual values— emerges clearly $ whether the poet's inspiration derives from personal experience or gen­ eral observation, comment and admonishment is obscured by lack of specific statement or historical evidence« The.second poem appears to have no specific political referenceo Instead, it may be read as a generalized lament for a decline in social morality. Taken in context with the first poem, references to old paths, fallen fire wood, and music and song from the high, tower indicate a desire on the poet's part to return to traditional Confucian morality. In this respect, the first line complains that higher values of old are ignored by the government. The plaintive cries of birds in flight reinforce the imagery« The "Lament of the Cicada" and the jade flute are allusions to the Wu-ti emperor of the Han dynasty and the Ming-huang. emperor of the

T'ang dynasty respectively. Both emperors reigned during periods of great achievement, but the excesses of both weak- i . ened the imperial rule and seriously jeopardized the dynas­ ties. Since direct political criticism in China was inadvis­ able and often met with by death, Chinese poets traditionally couched their comments in historical allusions and metaphors, thereby assuring some, degree Of personal safety. While pro­ tecting themselves, however, the true intent of their poetry 37 frequently eluded even the educated Chinese and is now often totally imperceptible to native and foreign scholars alike. :■ This final selection, the longest of Chiang's poems in translation, was apparently written in commemoration of the construction of the Ten-Thousand Year Bridge. Engi­ neered by Wang Te-hsiang and Shu Shih-lin, the bridge was built near Hsu-men in Wu County, Kiangsu, during the reign of the Ch’ien-lung emperor. Judging from Chiang’s descrip­ tion, the arched structure was quite impressive.

TOASTING THE MOON AT TEN-THOUSAND YEAR BRIDGE

A thousand paces long, flying buttresses leap the river, At the edge of the void, people freely come and go. Like a rainbow, the bridge arches the jumbled peaks $ Below the flood dragon lies, awed into submission. From the blue sky the light of the crescent moon touches the ocean below? On its glassy surface, the brilliance of the myriad things. . Off the wind fall drops of dew? the sound of waves— Now all between Heaven and Earth is pure. Every twenty paces, three mirrored depths, Up and down, reflections of the vaulted heaven in the autumn river. Crossing the bridge, the traveler feels the river winds, Treading on the cold light, yet unaware of the chill. The moon reflects across the water for one thousand feet, And from the flickering surface the eatchlights are washed away« In pensive mood, I ask how can I understand human affairs? Amidst the flying goblets, I forget what evening this is. Seeking crystal clarity of mind, like ice and snow, I only regret that I have guests but not the sound of the flute. 38 The lights of the fishermen are motionless, the wild gulls sleeps Temple bells ring out, startling the nesting birds. In gala outings amidst the scenic splendor, so much joy, In his bosom the gentleman alone recalls old times.■LC Among celebrated officials, who can enjoy the scenery? A poet am I, but how can I compare with the Dragon and the Tiger?13 With full flagon in hand, complete joy should be mine, For in the cool night singing and laughter bring forth verses. In the late hours, eyes and ears are still alerts Gay, without regrets, there is no haste to look about. . . Leaning, gazing aloft, stars fall on the river banks, And playing with the sun and moon, we are but straw dogs.. One night we come to the Ten-Thousand Year Bridge, And those who cross it attain emancipation, immor­ tality. Like many Chinese poets of old, Chiang and his friends enjoyed visits to scenic places where they drank wine and challenged each other in verse composition. Although this poem is somewhat long to be a response to a poetic, challenge, it probably records such an outing to the recently construct­ ed bridge. Caught up in the excitement' of the evening,

Chiang's poetic temperament found expression in the awesome­ ness of the structure and its locale.

Unlike much of Chiang's poetry,this work is rela­ tively free of historical allusions and complex imagery.

12. A reference to the Taoist philosopher, Chuang Tzu (369-286 B.C.). 13. The poets Ts'ui Yin and Ts'ao Tzu-chien, or Ts'ao Chih, second son of Ts'ao Ts'ao. 39 Couched in the septasyllahic Old Style verse form, the poet had at his command a structure free of rigid formal require­ ments and suitable to extended.description» On one level, the poem is a discursive description of the bridge, its natural setting, and a convivial gathering of the poet and his friends on an autumn evening. On another, higher level, the bridge is made to symbolize man's capacity for control­ ling his environment. It soars among the mountain peaks and leaps the river below. Attaining the heights of the moun­ tains themselves, it also thwarts nature in the guise of the flood dragon, The flood dragon heretofore seasonally pre­ vented the crossing of the river and delayed the traveler, but now man's engineering genius has surmounted the obsta­ cle represented by the river in flood. What was once a dangerous ford is now .a.famous scenic spot and a site for outings. The mood of the scene has changed to that of tran­ quillity and repose.

While celebrating the works of man, the poet also expresses typical Confucian concern for human affairs and man's ability to attain a moral society.. The expression of Confucian moral and social beliefs is a common element in the poet's verse, and like his dramas, a thread of Taoist escapism is woven into the poem. There is an ambivalence between the expressed desire to know better the ways of man, implying a commitment to Confucian moral concerns, and a 40 wish to seek release from life in the mundane world. In the final two couplets, the poet's Taoistic tendencies find fuller expressions namely, in the statement that man is but a straw dog, an object to be manipulated and discarded at will by a callous fate. The desire for escape from earthly bonds is made more explicit and reiterated in the final couplet. There the poet suggests the bridge is a passage­ way. to the empyreal realm, and those who are aware of its true nature may use. it to transcend mundane distinctions. In his exploration and description of his own duality of mind, the poet is at once joyful but pessimistic, socially involved but desirous of escape from human entanglements. Although sometimes critical of the poet Li Po's seeming lack of substance, in this long, descriptive and philosophical poem, Chiang Shih-ch'uan reminds one very much of the many- sided Li Po, at one moment revelling in his cups or the beauties of nature, and at another pessimistic of the course of human life and affairs.

To attempt a critical study of Chiang Shih-ch'uan as a poet would involve not only a thorough research of his own works but also the works of his friends Yuan Mei and Chao I.

The three poets were known to their contemporaries as the

"Three Masters of Chiangtso," and they dominated the literary

scene in China for nearly a centuryUntil a comprehensive

14. Liu Ta-chieh, op. cjt., pp. 1030-31. 4 i study of Ch’ing dynasty poetry has been completed, however, Chiang's place in literary history cannot be readily dis­ cerned, and his true impact on Chinese letters cannot be de­ termined. . CHAPTER 4

CHIANG SHIH“CH,UAN AS A DRAMATIST

Before discussing Chiang's role as a Ch’ing dynasty; dramatist, a few comments concerning the origin and develop­ ment of drama in China are in order = Many scholars trace the origin of Chinese drama to the religious ceremonies and festivals of the Shang dynasty (1500-1100 B.C.), during which various ceremonial dances, were performed to musical accompaniment. In the Chou dynasty (1122-255 B.C.) such dances were forbidden in religious functions but were con­ tinued in separate ceremonials. Costumes became more elab-: orate and special stages were constructed in lieu of the 1 previously used temples. The Han dynasty (B.C. 206-221 A.D.) saw the development and widespread use of puppets in funer­ als and other festivals, and the popularity of the puppets continued through the T'ang and Sung dynasties. During the

T'ang period (618-907) Chinese drama was given a great lift by the Emperor Hsuan Tsung, who established the Pear Orchard Academy as a training school for stage performers. Emperor

Hsuan Tsung, who reportedly performed on his own stage, is

1. Kate Buss, Studies in the Chinese Drama (New York, . 1930), pp. 18-19. .

42 • 43 2 recognized in China today as the patron saint of all actors. During this time interest in the Academy was confined to courto Neverthelesss the first real period of drama had begun.

During the Sung dynasty (960-1180) puppet plays reached their height of popularity and were often used to open regular stage performances. Another development of Sung times was the shadow play„ a play which initially used puppets but which later used both children and adults.3

While drama increased in popularity, interest was still largely confined to court. The masses overwhelmingly pre­ ferred puppets and shadow plays.

Greatly influenced by Sung shadow plays, and due to the continuing support of royalty, drama emerged as a major art form in the Yuan dynasty (1280-1368). For the first time divisions of character and subject were fixed and regu­ lar scripts were produced, thus marking the beginning of modern Chinese drama. Not only had drama become a classi­ fied art in the Yuan period, but two schools of drama had also developed.^ Northern Drama, called tsa-chu or mixed plays, originated in northern China with Peking as its cen­ ter. This particular school was characterized by relaxed

3. A. C. Scott, The Classical Theatre of China (New York, 1957)* p* 29- 4. Buss, p. 21. 44 rules and the use of everyday language» The chief musical instruments were stringed instruments which employed a musi­ cal scale of five tones and two half tones. The vigorous quality of the songs were in keeping with the bold spirit of the people of North China, Yuan Southern Drama paid strict adherence to rules, used many scholarly and literary expres­ sions,. and employed the flute as the major musical instru­ ment » Songs were softer in both melody and emotion and were more romantic than the martial tunes of the north,^ With the founding of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Northern Drama declined while the plays of the south flour­ ished and developed into a new style called eh'uan-oh'i. James J« Y. Liu has translated this term as loosely meaning dramatic romance, but today it more commonly refers to drama or plays in general« Ch'uan-ch* i emerged as a combination of the whole of Southern Drama and some of the tunes of

Northern Drama,

Besides differing in musical qualities, the above mentioned dramatic styles differed in overall structure as well, Yuan Northern Drama consisted of four acts with one or two inductions, and only the male or female lead could sing in any one act. Yuan Southern Drama consisted of num­ erous acts, often as many as thirty or forty, and the sing­ ing parts were not restricted to one performer. Both the

5. Scott, p. 30. ^5 male and female lead, as well as secondary characters, could have singing parts, and the characters could sing In dialogue 6 or in choruso Ch'uan-ch* i drama differed somewhat from

Southern Drama in that it incorporated all the southern musi­ cal variations plus many tunes and patterns which developed in the north.

In the Chia-ching period (1522-1566) of the Ming dy­ nasty, still another dramatic style emerged in the south. Popularized through the collaboration of the dramatist Liang

Po-lung and the musician Wei Liang-fu, both of the K'un-shan district in Kiangsu province, this new style soon eclipsed all other dramatic forms in popularity and continued its reign through the early years of the nineteenth century. 7 Named after its place of origin, k"un-ch'u,.or K'un-shan tunes, benefited from the enduring qualities Of its prede­ cessors. In structure it closely resembles the ch'uan-ch'i drama of early Ming times, but in language and music it is far removed from the earlier forms. According to James

J. Y. Liu, the term k'un-ch'u is more correctly applied to the songs and music of this new style drama, while the text 8 is very similar to that of the earlier dramatic romances.

6. James J. Y. Liu, The Chinese Knight-Errant . (Chicago, 1967), p. 1^5 . 7* Yao Hsin-nung, "The Rise and Fall of the K'un Ch'u," T'ien Hsia Monthly, II (January, 1936), 80.'

8. James J. Y . Liu, op. c lt .,, p. 147. ' ... 46 The music, which derived from numerous variations on exist­ ing song patterns called ch'u, was accompanied primarily "by . the seven^-holed flute and was softer and more romantic than the music of the other dramatic forms of the south« As the k'un-ch'u style developed, and spread, it became more sophis­ ticated and refined and soon divorced itself from the popu­ lar stage. By the end of the seventeenth century, k'un-ch'u drama had become so literary in. style that it was no longer comprehensible to the lower classes. By then, however, it had become a favorite of the literati and royalty and was firmly entrenched as a form of literature to be read as well as performed. Toward the close of the eighteenth century, many, scholars turned to other literary endeavors and the

K'un-shan plays lost much of their support, Due to imperial patronage, however, the dramas survived with considerable strength until the T'ai-p'ing rebellion of the 18506s de­ stroyed Soochow, the center for the training schools for k'un-ch'u performers and musicians. Not only had the schools been destroyed, but the Soochow economy had been so weakened that any efforts to reorganize would have been futile,^

When peace was finally restored in China, all pre­ viously existing dramatic forms were replaced by a new popu­ lar drama called chlng-hsl, or Capital Theatre, While the singing parts of chlng-hsi plays retain much of the literary

' 9« Scott, p., 33« 4? language found. In k'un-oh'u, the dialogue is more colloquial and the music louder and less refined than the tunes written for the older southern dramas. The Capital Theatre received immediate popular support due to its use of colloquial lan­ guage and native music of the various regions of China.^

In the mid-eighteenth centuryp when the elegant k'un- ch'u drama reached its peak of popularity among the elite classes, Chiang Shih-ch'uan was a recognized master in both the k'un-ch'u style drama and in the style of the older Yuan drama = Before his death in 1784, he had written at least fifteen plays, nine of which comprise the collection Nine Plays of Ts 'ang-yiian. As mentioned in Chapter 2, Chiang was quite outspoken in both his poems and plays and did not hes­

itate to criticize individuals or institutions. According to Li T 6iao-yuan (1734-1803), the playwright's tendency to criticize brought him trouble, on more than one occasion and has been given as the reason for two of his failures in the 11 metropolitan examinations. Nevertheless, Chiang continued writing as he pleased, choosing as subject matter persons of historical significance or personal acquaintance, and he maintained his position as a leading playwright throughout the Ch'ien-lung period.

10. Hightower, p. 97» 11. Chu, p. 475= -Y ' ■ ' 48

Of all Chlang's plays, the k'un-ch'u drama Dream of

Lln-ch'uan Is the most critically acclaimed, while Four Strings in Autumn is thought to "be the most pleasing in song -Ip and dialogue. The former, consisting of twenty acts, was . written in tribute to T ’ang Hsien-tzu, one of the greatest k'um-ch'u dramatists of the sixteenth century, T'ang and his works were both admired and critically studied by Chiang, and it is therefore not surprising that Dream of Lin-ch'uan, a labor of love for Chiang,. has received such high acclaim. .

The four-act play Four Strings in Autumn, celebrating Po Chii-i's famous poem "Lute Girl's Song," will be discussed in subsequent pages along with a translation of the most popu­ lar act of that drama.

Together with the above mentioned plays, The Fragrant Chamber and Fragrance in an Empty Valley, both centering on the concubine Yao Meng-lan, comprise the four dramas con­ sidered by many as being the best Of all Chiang5s dramatic creations. Of his more controversial works, The Holly Tree occupies the top position, but it has also been criticized by Chu Hsiang and Chao Ching-shen as being inferior in structure. Chu has even pointed out that while Dream of

Lin-ch'uan is Chiang's most highly praised drama, both it and The Holly Tree suffer from the same affliction of having

12. Meng, p. 376. too many allusive passages,13 Like the allusions found in much of China's poetry, the meanings of many passages in

Chiang's plays escape even the educated Chinese reader, Chao's major point of criticism concerning The Holly Tree is that the subjects treated in the respective acts are too unequal in position and importance. The unstable quality which results negates the remaining positive structural elements of the play® While continuity between acts in k'un~ch*u or ch'uan-ch'i drama is not essential, the impor­ tance of the subject matter of the various acts should be comparatively equal. Although the focal point of The Holly

Tree is the loyalty and honor of Sung patriots, many acts, deal with such variant subjects as the oppression of justice, persecution of men of letters, the bitter suffering of peas­ ants and prisoners, the plight of the court ladies in face of the Mongol invasion, the spirit of the common, people, and the flight of the Sung Emperor and his court to the sea.^

The intermixing of various subjects in the play serve to point up Chao’s primary cause for criticism. However, while the play is loosely structured, and even though there is seldom a direct relation between any two acts, each act is a

. 13, Chu, p. 4830

14= Chao, p. 142.

15- Ibid. , 50 complete story in itself and can be performed independent of

16 ' - all the others« : The main theme of The Holly Tree, which deals with the fall of the Sung dynasty, is the manifestation of loyalty and honor as displayed by Wen T'ien-hsiang (1236-1282) and

Hsieh Fang-te (1226-1289)• As noted in preceeding pages, this is a recurring theme underlying the poetry of Chiang

Shih-ch’uan and a theme which also finds expression in many of his playse "The Fuel Market," one act from Chiang * s con­ troversial play, is offered here in translation and depicts the execution of the Sung patriot Wen T'ien-hsiang at the hands of the Mongols* A loyal premier of the Southern Sung,

Wen gave up a promising career as a scholar to become a sol­ dier in the Sung army«^ In 1275 and again in 1278 Wen led unsuccessful attempts to stop the invading Mongols. Cap­ tured at Wu-p*o-ling, he was escorted to the Mongol capital in Peking in 1279* Insisting on being treated as an equal, the premier of Sung refused to serve his captors and was im­ prisoned for three years. In 1282, after repeatedly refusing to serve the Mongols, Wen T'ien-hsiang was put to death at his own request in the local fuel market.^ He was accorded

16. Yao, p. 72.

17. Ibid.

18. Herbert A. Giles, A Chinese Biographical Dic­ tionary (Taipei, 1964), pp. 87^ 75. 51 full honors by Kubllai Khan, who greatly admired the Sung official for his loyalty and courage. Another act of the play popular In the Ch'len-lung period deals with the fate of Hsleh Fang-te who, after serv- . ing his government for twenty-five years, lived to witness the fall of the dynasty.Like Wen T 'len-hslang, Hsleh also refused to serve the Mongols but was not Imprisoned. In 1276, disguised in mourning robes, Hsleh traveled from market to market weeping and displaying his grief over the surrender of the Sung army and its supporters» In 1286 Hsleh Fang-te's name headed a list of twenty-two Sung schol­ ars who were recommended for service in the new Yuan govern­ ment. He continued to decline all offers of employment under the Mongols, however, and when taken to Peking in

1289 he refused to eat and died from starvation. Like Wen T'ien-hsiang, Hsleh was praised for his moral correctness by supporters and enemies alike. 21 .

To Chinese patrons of the theatre, a stage production of "The Fuel Market" needs no special introduction or note of explanation. This applies to the dramatization of all other popular stories and legends as well. The Chinese

19® Chao, p. 3A0. 20. Frederick W. Mote, "Confucian Eremitism in the Yuan Period," Confucianism and Chinese Civilization (New. York, 1964), pp. 282-83.

21. Giles, p. 290. . • . 52 theatre-goer is thoroughly familiar with the traditional stories enacted on stage, and a particular act from any giv­ en popular drama is immediately recognizable and mentally associated with the origin and circumstances of the story as a wholeo The opening lines of the first scene set the mood and identify the particular story being related. As for

"The Fuel Market," the act is short, but the dialogue and singing parts provide all the information necessary for the reenactment of a memorable event in China's history. In this particular act only the leading role, the sheng, has a singing part. The Chinese text names the tunes to which the parts are sung and prints those.parts in bold characters. However, in the translation the names of the tunes have not been included since they would have little meaning without a knowledge of the actual music. For easy recognition, and to aid in identifying and appreciating the structure of the act and the importance of the individual roles, all singing parts have been so indicated. ■

There are four major role divisions in Chinese drama with numerous subdivisions based on the personalities of the characters represented in the play. Chinese stage performers do not portray individual characters but project fixed per­ sonality types that, are readily identifiable through tradi­ tional costumes, unique make-up, and other special symbols . 53 of I d e n t i t y . 22 serious male roles in Northern Drama are called mo. The second male lead is called fu-mo. the juven­ ile lead hsiao-mo, and the supernumerary or extra is called wal-mo.23 in Southern Drama the male roles are sometimes called mo but are generally referred to as sheng and are divided into three distinct personality types. The hsiao- sheng. or young male, is depicted by a clean-shaven face'and may represent a youthful hero, a lover, young scholar, war­ rior or statesman. The hsiao-sheng actor uses little make­ up and must have a good singing voice. The lao-sheng is always bearded and represents man in that period from middle age to old age. The role of the older male also requires the actor to have a good singing voice in addition to being agile and acrobatic. Character personalities in the lao-sheng roles may range from high officials to lowly peasants, but . they are always men of noble deeds and ideals. The third category in the sheng role is the wu-sheng, denoting warriors and men of great martial skill. Undesirable elements of soci­ ety, such as outlaws and overbearing warriors, are also char- oh, acterized in this role.

22. Henry W. Wells, The Classical Drama of the Orient (Bombay, 1965), p. 120.

23• James J. Y . Liu, op.cit., p. 143.

196?), pp. 15-16. For additional inf ormation on 'Foie divi­ sions, see also: L. C. Arlington and Harold Acton, Famous Chinese Plays (New York, 1963}, pp. xxili-xxv. 5^ The tan or female role is divided into several per­ sonality types including a lao-tan and wu-tanc the female counterparts of the lao-shenR- and wu-sheng roles, The char­ acters portrayed as mi-tan are the amazons of Chinese drama. Other major divisions are the ch8in#-! and the hua-tan. The che ing-1 usually denotes a woman of sadness and requires a singing voice capable of the plaintive sounds characteristic of Southern Drama and k'un-oh'u. Sleeve movements and hand gestures are also of prime importance to this role. The hua-tan role requires an actor of considerable acrobatic and dancing talent. This particular role depicts a lively young woman whose movements and gestures are quick and de­ cisive « The tan roles were traditionally performed by men but have been taken over by women in more recent years.^5

The third major role division is the ching or painted face role. The types portrayed as ching are usually warriors or bandits of great physical strength and are characterized by exaggerated movements and acrobatics. The ching actor wears thick-soled shoes and padded clothing, giving an awe­ some, giant-like quality to the personality portrayed. When traitors and the like are portrayed through ching roles, the facial make-up is flat white and the physical appearance is somewhat smaller.

25« Ibid., po 16, 26. Ibid., p . I?. The comic or ch8ou roles are not too different from their counterparts in Western drama. The ch*ou actor is the only performer allowed to use colloquial speech on stage and thereby provides even greater contrast to the other major roles. The comic is recognized by the distinctive white patch around the eyes and nose and by a colorful but simple costume, Like the other roles, many different personalities are represented by the ch'ou, but one of the most common characters is the semi-comic official. While ch8ou roles usually require great acrobatics and mimicry, the major con­ tribution of the part is the dialogue and how it is deliv- erea.27

"The Fuel Market," offered here in translation, con­ sists of sheng, ching and ch8ou roles plus a tsa or super­ numerary role. The tsa actor may take an active part in the play and may even have a few lines of dialogue. In most cases, however, he serves only as an extra and has no spoken lines. In this act there is but one performer for each role division represented? consequently, there was no need for the playwright to further define the individual personal­ ities of the characters,

The translation of "The Fuel Market" is my own and is based on Chao Ching-shen's annotated version of the act.

2?. I b id . 56

The Fuel Market, One act from the play, The Holly Tree

CHARACTERS's WEN T'lEN-HSIANG, Premier of Southern Sung (a sheng role) GUARD, military retainer in charge of executions (a ching role) EXECUTIONER, directed "by guard (a tsa or supernumerary role) OFFICIAL, from inner court (a ch/ou role) (Guard enters, leading the executioner,)

GUARD; ' _ft In the bright of day Yuchou^0 is darkened ? mountains crumble and the seas pour over. The loyal minister aided his nation's cause, and in coming years he will be remembered for his deeds = I am a retainer of Yuan, and by imperial decree I today pass capital sentence against the premier, _ Alas! See how he is constantly unbendingj still today he is unstained by the dust of the world. If we speak of the direction of national justice, we must follow his will of duty and righteousness, and thereby incite our nation’s statesmen to purity. Unfortunately, there is no one at court to intervene and remonstrate $ thus the death of this great man will disgrace the virtue of our emperor, I am but a military officer, and I dare not say too much, EXECUTIONER; Commander, sir, it is three-quarters past the hour of noon. GUARD; ‘ • Quickly, bring forward the premier. EXECUTIONER: ' Yes, sir.

(Executioner exits and then reenters, escorting Wen T'ien- hsiang.)

28. The ancient name of the northeastern portion of China, of which Peking was a part. 57 WEN- T'IBN-HSIANG (sings): Three years imprisoned and this affair just now comes to completion. Lifting my, brows from deep thought, I gaze up to heaven and smile, Before my eyes the Pillars of State have faltered, the steadfast have swayed; from the State of old all glory has departed, I ask where is there a safe home? After my head falls aside, I will enter another existence and. regain life, EXECUTIONER: Premier, sir, ahead lies the fuel market, WEN T 1IEN-HSIANG (sings): All think that the journey to the gate of the Spirit is dark, Strange to say, it is I who will ascend to the blue clouds and be happy. Alas, that I cannot die on the battlefield! Because it is the will of heaven, they must, now raise their hands wearily to kill me. Life is like the dream of Han-tan,^9 When my life ends my blood will spout forth aglow. EXECUTIONER: This is a feast arranged by Premier Liu. Please,. sir, eat.

WEN T'IEN-HSIANG: Which Premier Liu? EXECUTIONER: ' Liu M e n g - y e n , 30 who is also from the Southern Court.

WEN T"IEN-HSIANG (kicking over the food): The wine and food of the evil Liu Meng-yen, how dare you place it here! Alya!

(sings) See this profusion of dishes and wine; it is useless to spread before me such excellent wines and fine

29• Refers to the dream and awakening of a young servant named Lu of Han-tan, modern Hupei, Dreaming of high office, long life and wealth, Lu awoke to find that little time had passed and that his stature in life had not changed

30. An official of the Southern Sung who fled to the Mongol court and was given a post in the new Yuan government 58 food. This I know„ that in the shade stand poisonous trees; the springs have become polluted. Amidst all this, how much of the people's wealth is squandered? EXECUTIONER: This is .a feast for Vice-Chancellor Chao. Please, sir, eat! MEN T'lEN-HSIANGi \ ■ Which Vice-Chancellor Chao? - EXECUTIONER; ;He too has come from the Southern Court and is called Chao Meng-fu.31

WEN T 'IEN-HSIANG; Ai! Tzu-ang is also his name,, and he is of the Imperial House. How has he fallen to such as this? Pitiable! Pitiable!

(sings) So great in your time, now the shame, of the royal family. With ink you beautifully wrote and were greatly admired. Why have you forsaken the ancestral tombs and forgotten the old family? This then is the price of surrender. Desiring only the title of chan­ cellor, you have forgotten that in ten thousand years your bad reputation will linger. (Dark spirits enter; Guard enters with imperial decree.)

GUARD: We have come to the execution grounds, but in just an instant how have heaven and earth become so dark?

(The wind blows and rain falls; loud thunder is heard.)

WEN T-'IEN-HSIANG: ■Heaven, oh, Heaven! The wind and thunder come late.

31. A descendant of the founder of the Sung dynasty. An hereditary official, he was famous as a calligrapher and painter. He later became a high official in the Mongol gov­ ernment and was an able administrator. 59 (sings) Earnestly I aided the house of Chao, but unfor­ tunately the foundations were unstable. Otherwise there would not have been Mt. Yai,33 with the thun­ der and lightning causing such confusion. And.I, foolishly trying to lift the moon from the ocean’s f l o o r . 34 The brave generals killeds the courageous soldiers dead in defeat; and even so, we failed to protect the lives at Court. Now the peal of thunder and the flash of lightning angrily thunder the urgen­ cy of the matter. GUARD: If the premier has any final words, tell this humble official and I will shortly memorialize the throne for you. .

(Wen T'ien-hsiang laughs loudly.)

WEN T ’lEN-HSIANG: '' How can you know the thoughts of my mind? (sings) You talk so.much, but of what relation am I to your emperor? Tell him to labor the life of a ruler. Never follow the path of dissipation and do not fol­ low in the tracks of carts gone before. Then he will not fall as those before him. Therein lies his power for ten thousand years. Consider that kings like T'ang and Yu.35 are hard to'find. If he is an able ruler, his throne will be inherited eternally.

32. The Sung Imperial Court.

' 33* In present Kuangtung Province, marking the loca­ tion of the defeat of the Sung naval forces. Near this point the Sung naval commander, with the child emperor on his back, jumped into the sea to avoid capture by the Mongols. The death of the young ruler was the final blow to the Sung dynasty.

3^* An impossibility, referring to Wen's vain attempt to save the Sung dynasty.

35* The mythical emperors Yao and Shun respectively. Yao chose Shun as his successor, and Shun in turn was suc­ ceeded by the founder of the Hsia dynasty. Dates for this period are of course untrustworthy, but many historians give 2200-1700 B.C. as a general date. 6o

EXECUTIONER: The time has come, The premier will die! (Wen laughs loudly,) WEN T 8IEN-HSIANG: I , Wen T 'ien-hsiang, to die in vain! (sings) Alas, the walls have all crumbled and only dust remains. Let it be known that I suffered bitterly, yet a hand now leads me to the blade. Do not laugh that this Guardian of the Heir Apparent is executed, (Wen is forced downward and beheaded, A god, in the guise of a dragon, soars upward and protects the spirit of Wen, As the thunder, lightning, wind and rain continue unceasingly, the guard clutches his head and trembles visably,)

(An official of the inner court enters, mounted on horseback.)

OFFICIAL: By imperial decree a royal banquet is prepared, and the new title of the premier is now placed on his ancestral tablet,

(A sacrifice is offered as Wen's spirit hovers above, The god of the winds sends the tablet aloft to Wen who casts it down in pieces.)

GUARD: It will not do! The tablet has been drawn to heaven and broken into pieces.

OFFICIAL: Wait and I will inform the throne,

(Official rides off; the spirit of Wen circles the area and does not leave. Official enters with new tablet.) t ' OFFICIAL: By imperial decree this ancestral tablet is respect­ fully submitted.

GUARD: And what is inscribed on it? 61

OFFICIAL: It readss ’'Loyal to.his country, the Grand Prime Minister Wen Shan,3° Sung Junior Guardian to the Heir Apparent v” (The new tablet is offered and accepted. The spirit of Wen exits leading the gods.)

GUARDt Aya! In just an instant Heaven has brightened and the weather cleared. It would scare a person to death! The loyal minister of old would not respect the title given by the new dynasty. In future gen­ erations, good names will last forever.

As can be seen in the translation and previous remarks, Wen T'ien-hsiang epitomized those qualities in man that Chiang admired so much'. Another point worth mentioning is the play­ wright's treatment of Liu Meng-yen and Chao Meng-fu as trai­ tors. Although Chao retired from office in the Sung govern­ ment in I276 and declined office under the Mongols, he did eventually accept and was given a position in the Yuan gov­ ernment in 1286i37 Wen T'ien-hsiang was executed in 1282, four years before Chao took office in Peking. Chiang, how­ ever, would have his readers believe that Chao accepted an official post while Wen was still alive. This would indicate that the author was either in error concerning the facts or deliberately distorted them in order to emphasize the theme of his play. I am inclined to believe the latter, for al­ though Chao Mehg-fu was an exceptional administrator, the

36. The hao or social name of Wen T'ien-hsiang.

37• Mote, p. 286. ' , 62

Chinese have for centuries regarded him as a traitor. F . ¥.

Mote describes Chao as a man of one dynasty whose abilities could be utilized only in the succeeding dynasty.38 As for Chiang’s true personal attitude toward the principals in the play, no information has been found which clearly indicates . his disposition toward anyone other than Wen-T1ien-hsiang. As already noted, Dream of Lln-ch'uan is Chiang Shih- ch’uan's most critically acclaimed play, but Four Strings in Autumn is regarded to contain the most beautiful verse and dialogue. This four-act play was written in Yangchow in 1772, and the fourth act of the play was performed in that same city the following summer. There is no evidence that any other portion of the play has reached the stage, The play is based on Po Chii-i’s poem "Lute Girl's Song, " which was written in Chiangchou in the autumn of 816.39 p0, one of China's greatest poets, took the chin-shih degree in the year 800 and soon became a member of the Han-1in Academy.

Under the patronage of several men in high government posi­ tions, especially Chief Minister P'ei Chi, Po himself rose to a rank of considerable authority. After the death or retirement of many of his influential friends', however, Po9s enemies at court were successful in persuading the emperor

38. Ibid.

39. Arthur Waley,. The Life and Times of Po Chu-i (New York, 1949), p. 117. to banish him from the capital on the grounds that he was morally unsound.^0 Po was exiled to South China and as­ signed as Magistrate of Chiangchou, the modern Kiukiang on the Yangtze river north of Lake P'o-yang, One evening in the fall of 8l6» while seeing guests to their boat on the P 'en river,^ Po heard the sound of a lute coming from a smaller boat anchored nearby. From the sound and mood of the musicf the poet knew that the musician had been trained in the capital. On inviting her to join him and his guests on the larger boat, Po learned that the girl had been a courtesan in Ch1ang-an and was well known for her singing and lute playing. She told her small audience on the boat of her popularity in Ch'ang-an and how the young men com­ peted for her attention. As her beauty faded, however, the young men at her gate became fewer, and she eventually mar­ ried a tea-merchant and moved to CMangchou. Neglected by her husband, who was often away for months at a time buying tea, she was left to float about the river alone, singing and playing her lute, On hearing the woman's story, Po was moved to tears, and for the first time in two years he was reminded of his exile and how much he missed Ch'ang-an. He then asked the lady to play another tune and promised to compose a ballad for her music. "P'i-p'a hsing" (Lute Girl's

40, Ibid., 102-03» 41. An affluent of the Yangtze river near Kiukiang. 64

Song) was thus written and, after "Everlasting Sorrow," is

oe JNO Po ChU“i's most famous poem. Many plays have dramatized the Lute Girl story, but most of them stray far from the facts and create a completely fictionalized story of the relationship between Po and the lute player. Some even go so far as to have Po involved in an affair with the girl before his banishment from Ch'ang-an.

These plays usually conclude with a renewal of their rela­ tionship and eventual marriage in Chiangchou. Chiang Shih- ch'uan’s play follows the facts of the poem more closely, but does expand on it greatlyIn fact» the first three acts of the play have little direct relation to the poem but serve primarily as introductory material for the eventual meeting on the P'en.river. In these acts the playwright ex­ plains the circumstances which bring the principals together in Chiangchou. He then proceeds into the final act which closely parallels the original poem.in both language and action. In order to dramatize the poem, however, Chiang did alter the sequence of events somewhat and introduced addi­ tional dialogue via the use of additional active partici­ pants. For example, many lines spoken by Po in the poem are delivered as either dialogue or song by one of the additional

characters in the play. Notable among these, of course, is

42= Maley, The. Life and Times of Po Chu-i, p. 117•

43= Maley, Yuan Mel, p. 106. • 65 the hsiao sheng-ch*ou,, one of Po's guests referred to in the first couplet of the poem. The hsiao-sheng role is the young male lead in Chinese drama, but it also functions as the sec­ ond male lead in many cases, In Four Strings in Autumn, the playwright has added ch'ou characteristics to the hsiao-sheng role in order to provide a character capable of comic relief (in this case one who could deliver the less dramatic roles), thus balancing out the serious, melancholy role of the sheng. The overall mood of Po's poem is one of melancholy and sorrow, as the poet is reminded of his beloved Ch’ang-an and the songs and music he loves to hear. While the same general ( mood is retained in Chiang's play, an additional note of > . foreboding is expressed in Po's advice to his two departing friends. The exiled poet tells his friends of intrigues at court, the rise to power of sinister officials, and the downfall of many of his close friends and fellow officials.

He then warns his guests to keep these thoughts in mind as they travel north, for they surely can expect more corrupt acts to take place in the capital. Po Chu.-i was surely con­ cerned with the decaying political ^situation in Ch'ang.-an, but no clear reference to his concern was voiced in the poem.

While Chiang uses various devices to expand the story of the poem into a play, he also uses the opportunity of the play to inject his own personal comments concerning the state of affairs during Po ’s time. The playwright's use of specific • 66 names and events, which do not appear in the poem, makes it even more obvious that he himself is speaking and not Po Chii-i = As can be seen in both his poems and "The Fuel Mar­ ket ," Chiang often speaks through the historical characters in his works in order to express his own sentiments. This practice is not unique to Chiang, of course, but is certain­ ly a characteristic common to his dramas«

Several characters appear in Four Strings in Autumn, and the first act is especially well populated. In the opening scene, a group of tea-merchants are standing about discussing their purchases of the past year, and each mer­ chant in turn tells of the types and quantities of tea he M bought and exactly where in China he bought them. The entire scene is little more than an inventory of China's tea, and it is not quite clear why Chiang chose to open the play with this particular scene, He may have wished only to demonstrate his knowledge of the various kinds of tea grown in China, or he may have used the scene soley to expand his material. It is more likely, however, that he wanted to indicate the degree to which the lute player's husband was involved in his business. .

Subsequent scenes center on the predicament of the lute player who, unable to contend with her loneliness,

4-4-. Yao Chi-me i, editor, Chung-hua hsi-ch'u hsuan (Taipei, 1957), P» 170. 6? pleads with her husband not to leave her alone in Chiang- chouo She soon realizes, however, that her husband loves

money more than he loves his wife, and he does not hesitate

to leave her alone while he goes away on business trips. The

second act recounts Po Chu-l's career in Ch’ang-an and the

events leading to his banishment and reassignment in Chiang- chou. In the third act of the play, the girl's husband has departed for Pou-liang-, and she is left alone in her boat

with "nothing but the waves and the moon." One evening on

the P'en river at Chiangchou, the dejected woman expresses

her feelings in song and is overheard by the poet Po Chu=i$ thus the beginning of the fourth and final act of the play.

Seeing Off Guests, One act from the play, Four Strings in Autumn

CHARACTERS s . ' - PO CHU-I, Magistrate of Chiangchou (a sheng role) .HUA T 8UI"H0NG, the lute player (a hsiao-tan role) GUEST, a young man.of letters (a hsiao sheng-ch'ou role) . SERVANT, employed in Po's household (a tsa' or~~iupernumerary role) OLD WOMAN, rowing lute player's boat (a fu-ching role)

(Enter Po Chii-i, leading his guests from a banquet.)

PO CHU-Is ' At night by the banks of the river in Kiukiang, 1 bid farewell to guests, with the maple leaves and reed flowers of, autumn soughing in the wind.^5

45= The first line of the original poem. For a-com­ plete translation, see: Witter Bynner, The Jade Mountain (New York, 1957). PP* 125-29- 68 Living near P'en river the ground is low and damp,, and the hitter reeds and yellow rushes encircle my home. I, Po Chu-i, have been assigned to post in Chiangchou for one year now.. From official duties I take leave, and with my wife Yang compose verse, drink wine, and command my maidservants Fan Su and Hsiao Man to while away the days in lucid song. The yellow flowers have already bloomed, and I am not like T"ao LingA® Surrounded by greenery, I often go hand in hand with my friend K'uang.. With such deep feelings for quiet places, my heart is given to happiness here; but today two friends de­ part northward, and they have just now finished their feast and returned to their boat» My servant brings horses and accompanies me to the river to see them off. .

(Po mounts his horse and prepares to ride off, singing,) Along sparse groves under sunset skies, along sparse groves under sunset skies; the river is smooth like a mirror, Tossed by the wind momen- ■ tarily, the sail is lost in the shadows.

SERVANT; We have arrived.

(Po Chu-i dismounts, and his guest, wearing a thin silk cap and ordinary clothes, enters to greet him.)

GUEST: ' Brother Lo T ’ien,^? we have already bid farewell. Why do you again come to see us off?

PO CHU-Is ' My two brothers, we have drunk to intoxication, but there is no joy, only sorrow. At this time of de­ parture the boundless river floods the moon.

GUEST: • The host has dismounted and his guests are aboard their boat; but raising our cups to drink, there is no music.

46. The fourth century poet T'ao Ch'ien, who pre­ ferred poetry, music, and the cultivation of flowers to gov­ ernment service.

4?. Po Chii-i ‘ s tzu or literary name. 69 (sings) I thank you for your ahundant farewell feast, I thank you for your abundant farewell feast; I am both grateful and sorrowful that you are again troubled to see us off.

PO CHti-I (sings) : I ask if tonight I will sober from the wine; I ask if tonight I will sober from the wine. Oh, that for a thousand li a high tide, then one sail in the wind would be sufficient =

GUEST: Brother Lo T'ien, please sit down and give your younger brothers parting words of advice, for we beg your instruction.

PO CHti-I: This year between spring and summer, Wang Ch'eng- tsung was twice defeated by Governor Lu Lung. Wu Yiian-chi continuously turned to war, and in the fifth month Yuchou was in great disorder, but for­ tunately it was put to an end by T'ien Chin. After­ wards, there was an exemption of taxes for the disordered states and districts, and within the government there was much talk of the whole affair. I have recently heard that Li Feng-chi was raised from his former position to the office of Chief Minister of State, and he is a terrible person. His-nature is one of jealousy and maliciousness, and he has recently been associated with the sixteen officers of the Eight Bureaus, overthrowing and de­ stroying our court officials and oppressing the just people. P'ei Chi has also been forced out, and there is more to be expected. My two brothers, go forth with this in mind!

(sings) Among official circles I reflected within myself; among official circles I reflected within myself. Accepting my fate-, I was fearful of hastening to the flame, not distinguishing between the untrust­ worthy and the indifferent.

48. Wang Ch*eng-tsung.and Wu Yitan-chi, both rebel leaders during the early ninth century, successfully opposed the Imperial Army for several years and caused great disorder in Yuchou, or northeastern China. Li Feng-chi rose through the ranks to become Chief Minister in 822. 70

GUEST: With Wang Shu-wen just defeated,how does Li Feng- • chi dare behave this way?

(sings) Regrettable that man's heart is so indifferent; re­ grettable that man’s heart is so indifferent. Rank and emolument have been entrusted to them by the em­ peror, yet they have confused and corrupted the righteous. (From off stage comes the sound of a lute player, singing and strumming the p *l~p'a.) HUA T 1UI-HUNG (sings); When the winds blew the willow blossoms filled the inns with fragrance; singing girl Wu50 urged wine, persuading the guests to drink. Kindly may I ask, can the endlessly flowing river be greater than my sorrow? PO CHU-I: Ai! That tune from the p ’i-p’a strums with the sound of the capital. Go among the small boats and ask who is singing and playing.

(The servant exits to search among the boats as Po begins to sing.)

It is like that taught in the Pear Garden; it is like that taught in the Pear Garden.51 How is such a sound to be heard here among the rivers and lakes?

(The servant enters.)

SERVANT; I wish to inform you, sir, that a woman playing a p *i-p"a in a small boat said that she is the wife of a tea-merchant, and that when she was young she lived in the capital.

49. A capable administrator who rose to power in 805 but who, because he was not from the hereditary ruling classj, was overthrown by highly placed scholar-officials.

50. The lute player, Hua T ’ui-hung. 51. A training school for actors and actresses estab­ lished by Emperor Hsuan-tsung of the T ’ang dynasty. 71 PO CHU-Is . ' Tell her to anchor near the large boat and to bring her p'i-o'a aboard. I would invite her to have con­ versation with me. SERVANT (to old woman rowing the boat): The woman who is. master of that small boat is asked to move nearer the large boat. My master would ask the lute player to have conversation with him.

OLD WOMAN: I understand.

(The lute player enters, wearing little.make-up and carrying her p c i-p"a.) EDA T ’UI-HUNG (sings): With my plectrum a golden hairpin, I strike a cold chord to drive away my melancholy. In the depths of darkness, I have troubled host and guests aboard this official barge,

SERVANT: The lady is invited to come aboard. Magistrate Po is here. • EDA T"DI-HUNG (sings): He, over there, calling out hastily $ and I, over . here, without time to arrange myself properly,

SERVANT: Quickly, come aboard.

EDA T'UI-HDNG (sings): Straightening my hair and carrying my shoes, even this old p *1-p'a cannot hide my beauty. .. PO CHU-I, GUEST (sing in unison): Ten thousand requests and one thousand calls, and we still wait? truly she is of a shy, retiring manner. (The lute player boards the large boat, and the older woman in the small boat withdraws out of view.) PO CHU-I (sings): After a while she has come.

EDA T'UI-HUNG: I wish to pay a visit to the gentleman aboard this boat. PO CHU-I; Please do not trouble yourself„

(The lute player shows her pleasure as Po sings.) Look at her, holding the p 'i-p'a and partially • screening her face. (speaks) This evening both man and moon are bright, and I wish to cleanse the cups for renewed feasting with my two brothers, Make preparations for a banquet, and over there place a chair so that I may invite this lady to sit down.

HUA T'UI-HUMG: I should not seat myself.

PO CHU°I: There is no need for formalities. Please sit down.

HUA T'UI-HUNG (again showing her pleasure); Then I will sit. (Po and his guest pour wine.)

PO CHU-.I: ‘ Play your p 'i-p'a and tell me your name, where you are from, and what you have been doing. Speak and I will listen. (sings) The lamps are trimmed and the feasting begun anew. Pour forth your feelings, for there is no need to conceal them.

HUA T'UI-KUNG; Then, sir, listen as I begin, (She plays the lute and sings.)

My home was in P 'ing-k'ang,52 south of Shih-tzu Street, and you could dismount right at the beau­ tiful gate. When I was thirteen my clothes were of the five colors. Trained in dance, I was always

52. The entertainment district of Ch'ang-an. gay and bright as in spring. In shoes of gold and with beautiful headdresses, my movements were ele- ' gant and graceful; like a cloud without wind I floated about» and my beauty was as natural as a flower«

PQ CHU-I: You sing so beautifully.

(sings) Like jade bamboo sprouting forth; like pearls drop­ ping upon a dish; with a crash like falling rain, then a trickle, as the flowing of a spring; softly, like the murmuring sounds of conversation, more beautiful than the warbling of an oriole. With the thunder of an army and the swoosh of quick blades, her skillful hands play softly, without effort. Her face furrowed with sadness, with quick, staccato sounds, she speaks of the endless sorrow in her heart,

(speaks) Who taught you to play the p'i-p'a? HUA T 8UI"»HUNG (strums the p ' 1-p'a' and sings): For so long I wa,s both a good musician and a good dancer. In my collection of tunes, the two songs called "Hsiao-hu lei” were the most popular. The ■ young men of Wu-ling competed for my attention, and in my beautiful silks they paid one thousand pieces of gold for one smile. Golden pairpins, broken in rhythm with my tunes, lay about in pieces. Even Tung-lang53 was entranced by my bewitching eyes, and Ch"iu~niang5^ was envious of me. Feasts were spread and wine poured, warming my face to red. Even as the flowers bloomed, I was prettier than the cardamoms.

GUEST; Her playing gets better and better!

(sings) The muffled sound of the strings, the words har­ monious and rhymed; her fingers twisting slowly,

53° The T'ang poet Han Wu. 54. A famous dancing girl of the T ’ang dynasty. lightly, without concern. Why listen to the drums and lutes of Hsiang-ling?55

PO CHU-Ii How is it that you have come to this place?

HUA T*UI-HUNG (playing the lute and singing): Year after year I laughed in merriment, as spring flowers and autumn moons passed "by unheeded. How mournful that human happiness after all becomes suffering. My younger brother joined the ranks of the army, and my aunt grew weak and died. Then I was left alone, and now I am but a haggard woman of the rivers and lakes.

(The lute player cries, and her listeners conceal silent tears.) -

PO CHU-I: Moved by your circumstances, I am stricken with grief.

(sings) Slender and fragile, with traces of tears wiped away; and I, a foolish man, my tears flowing free­ ly. In like fashion, we both wander about in our grief.

(Po wipes away his tears.)

GUEST: Ai! Lo T'ien, why are you so sad?

PO CHU-Ii For two years I have been departed from office but content within myself. Suddenly, on hearing this woman's words, I am stirred to emotion without■rea­ son. . Just as it is with everyone, life is now glorious, now sad. This hatred from banishment, has lodged in my heart; how can I cast away the sorrow of loneliness?

(addresses the lute player) You may as well finish speaking.

55* Goddess of the River Hsiang in Hunan province 75 HUA T ’UI-HUNG (sings): Then fewer men sought my company; then fewer men sought my company» Taking a husband, I married a tea-merchant; but he has gone to Pou-liang and has not returned. Keeping watch in my.lonely boat is hard to bear, and dreams of past joys and pleasures grieve my heart, (pauses briefly) To end my song these four strings close with the sound of rending silk; I lower my head and once again pay my respects. Looking about the boats, I am not understood; there is only the pale blue moon in the middle of the river.

(speaks) Thus, I bid farewell.

(Hua T'ui-hung crosses: the boat and continues her song.)

Why is it that so honorable an official should shed tears for me?

(Po's tears now flow freely.)

HUA T»UI-HUNG- (sings): • Alas! Po Chu-i weeping so without reason. (The lute player exits.)

GUEST: The hour is late, and I invite Lo T'ien to return to his home as we set loose our boat. (Po bids farewell and mounts his horse. From backstage can be heard the sound of the guests leaving in their boat.)

PO CHU-I: Ai! The lute girl has so saddened my heart.

(sings) See, the rivers and mountains, do not change; but men within their time do. Lamentable that we will all suffer alike.

(speaks) Tomorrow I will record this affair in verse and call it "P'i-p'a hsing," and later I will have it put to music. . 76 (sings) For those whose desires are not fulfilled, tears will flow like mine. (Exit Po Chu-i =)

It is not known if Po did indeed write his poem com­ memorating the affair the very next day, but whenever it was written it was thought of by the poet as one of his less im­ portant works. Soon after its appearance, however, "P'i-p'a hslng" became one of the most popular poems in China and the second most popular poem ever written by Po. CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

When k'un-ch'ii drama was at the apex of its popular­ ity, Chiang Shih-ch"iian had the distinction of being the most renowned dramatist of the day. His rapid rise to fame as a playwright was undoubtedly instrumental in his achiev­ ing fame as a poet = Ironically, his fame as a dramatist is a contributing factor in the relegating of his poetry to a position of lesser importance today, and one of the princi­ pal reasons why Chiang himself has been virtually forgotten as a poet. Even though his name is often mentioned in con­ nection with Yuan Mei and Chao I, Chiang1s poems have re­ ceived little attention from Chinese and Western scholars alike, and the poet himself is generally totally ignored as a major contributor to Ch'ing dynasty poetry. This is not entirely Chiang's fault, of course, but is largely due to the attitude of modern scholars that post T'ang and Sung poetry has little value as Compared to that of the golden age of Li Po and Tu Fu. Since no poet of the Ch'ing dynasty has rivaled the old masters in popularity or skill, modern scholars have hesitated to commence the time-consuming studies that have heretofore been reserved for the more fa­ mous poets and their works. Until this general reluctance

■ •? ; '• . ' ; " 7®: : to explore new areas of Chinese poetry is overcome, the true import of Ming and Ch'ing dynasty verse cannot "be revealed and a meaningful comparative study made = Chiang was recognized by his contemporaries as the leading playwright of the Ch*ien-lung period, but even that distinction has not resulted in a major study of his life and letters. The studies by Aoki Masaru and Chu Hsiang, although excellent source material for basic information on Chiang and his works, are comparatively short and leave un­ explained many aspects of his life and activities. Of course, the lack of translated material on Chiang, and the total absence of his dramas in translation, is due in part to the fact that drama is the least studied genre of all Chinese literature. While it is true that much of China's drama has little value off stage, the k'un-ch'ii drama was written to be read as well as performed, and it rivaled all other literary styles in both popularity and literary merit.

Until more scholars involve themselves with the performing arts in China, the condition as stated above will continue to exist, and the West will never be fully aware of the vast­ ness and quality of traditional Chinese drama.

As a preliminary exploration of the life and works of

Chiang Shih-ch'iian, it is hoped that this study has served to indicate the need for a fuller, more detailed analysis of the subject, and the full range of his literary achievements. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CHINESE PERIODS FROM THE T'ANG DYNASTY

T 'ANG DYNASTY ...... , „ . 0 . . . . 6l8- 90?

FIVE DYNASTIES AND THE TEN KINGDOMS ...... 90?- 960. SUNG DYNASTY

ISouthern Court) : : : : : I *'’ ’ * ! I * : 1127-1280 YUAN DYNASTY (Mongol Hule) ...... 1280-1368

MING D Y N A S T Y . 1368-1644 CH'ING DYNASTY (Manohu Rule) ...... 0 1644-1912

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